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How do Biden's 2024 deportation numbers compare to Trump's administration?
Executive Summary
The core factual picture is that multiple analyses conclude Biden-era removals and expulsions in 2021–2024 exceed comparable counts during Donald Trump’s term in key metrics, though comparisons hinge on whether one counts expulsions under Title 42 alongside formal deportations. Reported totals range from ~1.1 million deportations (plus expulsions) to nearly 4.4 million repatriations when expulsions are included, and FY2024 ICE removals reached roughly 272,000, a 10-year high that surpassed Trump-era peaks [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What advocates and reporters are claiming — big numbers that demand precision
The prominent claims extracted from the analyses state that the Biden administration’s cumulative removals since FY2021 through early 2024 are about 1.1 million deportations, and that when formal removals are combined with border expulsions the figure approaches 4.4 million repatriations, exceeding any single presidential term since George W. Bush [1]. Other claims highlight that FY2024 removals alone were roughly 271,000–272,000, the highest in a decade and slightly above the Trump-era peak of about 267,000 in 2019 [2]. Reports also present daily-average comparisons showing Biden’s daily removals averaging roughly 742 per day in FY2024 versus Trump-period averages reported as 661–693 per day in various TRAC and government summaries [5] [3]. These claims underscore how presentation—total removals, expulsions included, or daily averages—alters the narrative.
2. The raw numbers: totals, expulsions, and how counting choices change the story
Facts show two different counting approaches drive divergent conclusions. One approach counts formal ICE removals/deportations only: this yields the ~271,000–272,000 removals in FY2024, exceeding the Trump-era annual peak of about 267,000 [2]. Another approach adds border expulsions—largely Title 42 and other rapid-return mechanisms—which produces much larger cumulative repatriation totals since 2021, leading to the ~4.4 million figure cited for combined removals plus expulsions [1]. Analysts caution that expulsions are procedurally and legally distinct from removals tracked in ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations data; conflating them inflates comparisons unless the distinction is made explicit [1] [6]. This is why different outlets report markedly different “Biden vs. Trump” tallies.
3. Daily-rate comparisons: modest gaps, different time windows
The analyses present daily-average comparisons as another frame. TRAC-style reporting and government tallies show Biden’s FY2024 average removals around 742 per day, while comparisons to Trump-period windows yield averages between 661 and 693 per day, implying a 6–11% higher daily removal rate under Biden for the periods analyzed [5] [3]. However, these per-day comparisons depend heavily on the chosen time windows: one analysis compares Biden’s entire FY2024 to a short Trump window in early 2025, another contrasts first-100-day claims versus actual TRAC counts, leading to disputed percentages [4] [3]. The takeaway is that daily-rate gaps exist but are sensitive to timeframe selection and reporting method.
4. First-100-days and rhetorical claims: inflated or grounded in data?
Some political claims about Trump-era “record” deportations during early 2025 have been fact-checked as inflated relative to TRAC and government data. One analysis finds the Trump administration’s early-period claim of 135,000 removals in 100 days overstated; TRAC counted around 72,000 removals in the comparable span, roughly half the claim and about 1% below Biden’s average daily rate in the same comparison framework [4]. This demonstrates an important fact-checking point: public claims by administrations about enforcement records can diverge substantially from independent counts, and independent trackers like TRAC and ICE operational reports provide the necessary corrective data [4] [6].
5. Policy context matters: priorities, procedures, and reversals
Beyond raw numbers, the enforcement policy context changed between administrations, affecting who is removed and how. Biden shifted away from Trump’s broad interior enforcement and “zero-tolerance” posture, returning toward an Obama-era priority framework that emphasizes national security and recent entrants; yet enforcement operations and border expulsions continued at high volumes, producing sizable removal totals [7] [8]. Analysts note that policy reversals, operational capacity, Title 42 expulsions, and border processing changes all alter aggregate counts, so numerical superiority in removals does not alone indicate a like-for-like policy continuity with the Trump approach [7] [1].
6. Bottom line: Biden’s reported removal totals exceed Trump’s on many metrics, but the story is nuanced
In sum, the fact record supports that FY2024 removals were the highest in a decade and numerically exceeded Trump-era peaks, and that when expulsions are included Biden-era repatriations since 2021 are substantially higher than comparable single-term counts [2] [1]. However, the magnitude of the gap depends entirely on whether expulsions are counted and which time windows and data sources are used; some administration claims about opponent records have been found exaggerated by independent trackers [4] [3]. For a precise assessment, always specify whether you mean ICE removals only or removals plus expulsions, and cite the exact reporting window and source [1] [6].